https://www.bdma.org/tags/madewell/Recent content in Madewell on BDMA.orgHugo -- gohugo.ioenbdma.orgMon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.bdma.org/post/j-crew-logo-history-prep-goes-corporate/Mon, 21 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://www.bdma.org/post/j-crew-logo-history-prep-goes-corporate/ <h2 id="a-letter-added-for-how-it-looks-on-the-page">A Letter Added for How It Looks on the Page</h2> <p>The J in <strong><a href="https://www.jcrew.com">J.Crew</a></strong> is there for looks. The name was taken from the sport of crew, and a J was affixed to it for graphical appeal. It was a decision about how a word would sit on a catalog cover, made years before J.Crew opened its first store. <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/j-crew-group-inc">Encyclopedia.com's company history</a> supplies the motive. By the early 1980s the owners of Popular Club Plan, a business that sold low-priced women's clothing through in-home demonstrations, had watched clothing catalogs report booming sales and started one of their own. It was aimed at upper-middle-class shoppers who wanted the look of <strong><a href="https://www.ralphlauren.com">Ralph Lauren</a></strong> at a much lower price. They dubbed the operation J. Crew &quot;in an effort to connote a 'preppy' spirit,&quot; and the first catalog was mailed in January 1983.</p>